Open for research. Part or all of this collection is housed off-site and may
require up to three business days' notice for access in the Ransom Center's
Reading and Viewing Room. Please contact the Center before requesting this
material: reference@hrc.utexas.edu.

Processed by:

Nicole Davis, 2010

Biographical Sketch

Born in 1892 to first generation German-Americans Benno T. Goldbeck (1855-1916) and
Ida Schultz (1869-1975), Eugene Omar Goldbeck was a commercial photographer whose
career spanned the better part of the twentieth century. San Antonio, Texas, was
both his hometown and the headquarters of his business, which he eventually called
the National Photo and News Service.

Goldbeck decided on a career in photography in 1901 after capturing an image of
President William McKinley in a local parade. He bought a camera and began taking
portraits of high school classmates and working freelance for the city newspapers.
Upon graduating in 1910, he traveled throughout the western United States and to
South America taking kidnapped photos--impromptu
photographs taken of subjects and offered for sale afterwards. Around this time he
purchased a Cirkut camera and began his specialization in large panoramic group
portraits.

Goldbeck served in World War I, in the Photographic Division of the Aviation Section
of the Signal Corps. Subsequently he taught at the Signal Corps School of
Photography at Columbia University in New York City. While in New York he met
Marcella Fox, whom he married in 1919. He then returned to San Antonio, and after a
brief stint with Fox Photo, he founded his own photography company. In addition to
making panoramic group portraits, especially of military personnel, he captured
events and scenes both locally and around the world.

15,771 prints and approximately 15,000 negatives document American (especially Texan)
cities, landscapes, people, and military life, from circa 1900 to 1985, particularly
from 1910s to 1950s. The collection is arranged into the following five series:
Series I. Military, 1917-1945; Series II. People and Events, 1901-1985; Series III.
Places, circa 1910s-1970s; Series IV. Commercial Prints, 1910-1980; and Series V.
Negatives. Most images are by Goldbeck, but work by other photographers, such as
Stephen H. Willard, W. W. Mitchell, H. L. Summerville, and Julien Mandel, is also
found throughout the collection.

Series I. Military, is the largest series with 8,207 items. It includes formal
portraits and snapshots of officers and personnel, maneuvers and scenes from forts
and encampments, including souvenir folders made for soldiers, various American
Legion and other military parades, and scenes from the Second Sino-Japanese War
(1937-1945).

The second series, People and Events, consists of 2,467 items and includes Shriners
parades, assorted clubs, rodeos, and individual and group portraits, including many
prominent figures as well as Goldbeck and his family. Most events are located in San
Antonio.

Series III. Places, contains 3,497 items which include travel and commercial photos
from throughout the United States, including within several national parks, many
European countries, and some locations in Central America and Eastern Asia. Scenes
of Texas, especially San Antonio, are well represented in this series.

Commercial Photographs, the fourth series, includes 1,600 documentary photographs of
various subjects presumably done as paid commissions. Imagery includes architecture,
vehicles, airplanes and dirigibles, and construction equipment. The series also
includes items collected by Goldbeck such as film stills and postcards.

The items in series I. through IV. are all black and white gelatin silver prints. The
majority are vintage prints but some preservation prints made by the HRC are
included. Box 74 contains oversize items removed from other parts of the collection.
Series V. consists of negatives corresponding to the subjects in the above series.
These are unprocessed and are not accessible.

This collection is part of a larger collection of works by Goldbeck, including his
High School Panoramic Negatives, Living Insignia Collection, and business records,
as well as the Mitchell Collection which contains similar military photographs.